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Putting work to bed

woman with insomnia

Do you toss and turn before finally dropping off to sleep? Research shows that you're not alone! Work-obsessed Brits are substituting sheep with task lists and counting the days until a well-earned holiday to help them drop off

The age-old sleep-inducing practice of counting sheep has been put to bed, as a new report reveals working women are totting up their mammoth task lists for the next day as their heads hit the pillow.

New research by Travelodge exposes the latest methods and rituals practiced by 2,250 Britons in a bid to combat sleeplessness. Findings showed that almost a third of women (30 per cent) can't get work out of their minds and mentally run through the next day's to do list as they're dropping off. A further 31 per cent of over-worked females lull themselves into slumber by counting down the days left till their next break so that they can escape from the stresses and strains of work.

Stealing time
The research also revealed that work preparation steals an average of 27 minutes per night of female workers' precious wind-down time. Far from merely brushing their teeth and taking their make-up off before settling into bed, women are adopting time-consuming routines to alleviate the pressure from the next day's work before they hit the sack.

  • One in five (20 per cent) can't go to bed until they've decided on, ironed and laid out their outfit for the next day
  • Thirteen per cent prepare their lunch for the next day to save them time in the morning and at lunch time the following day
  • One in ten put their alarm clock on the opposite side of the room to ensure they don't over-sleep
  • One in twenty lay out breakfast ready, to save time in the morning
  • Almost a fifth of women have to tidy up their bedrooms so that their sleeping environment is in order and uncluttered before bed

Tips to encourage sleep
Leigh McCarron, Sleep Director at Travelodge, commented, 'This research shows the pressures of our working life are increasingly encroaching on our wind-down time -with an alarming number of women taking their to-do lists to bed with them. Taking work worries and counting your tasks in bed is not a good solution for a good night's sleep; as work pressures will play on your mind and lead to a restless slumber.

My advice is to write down all the tasks and jobs for the next day before getting into bed and put the list away. If you don't want to count sheep, choose something you like as the concept of counting can help you nod off. The idea of counting is to induce boredom while occupying the mind with something simple, repetitive and rhythmic, all of which are known to help humans sleep. Why not choose shoes, handbags or count the days till your next holiday.'

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